120 5th Avenue NY | The Gap Store
At 120 5th Avenue NY you´ll find another Gap Store from famed American retail chain The Gap, which sells an array of men’s, women’s and children’s casual apparel, occupies a combined 46,000 sq. feet in three adjacent buildings on this block (between 17th & 18th Streets).
The Gap sells quality casual wear for good prices. The style is overall preppy, but everyone needs tee shirts and jeans. They carry dresses and skirts, but nothing too glamorous. The GAP also has specialty stores called GAP Kids and Baby GAP.
119 5th Avenue NY | Sephora Cosmetics
Due to the Sephora variety, customers labeled this store the “candy store of cosmetics”. Since Sephora is competing with department stores that also sell cosmetics and perfumes like Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, it’s compelled to regularly hand out free samples and small gifts, in order to stay competitive.
Sephora cosmetics store sells a variety of makeup, skincare, fragrance, bath/body, haircare, and giftware items. The major brands that Sephora carries range from Dior to Dolce & Gabbana, DKNY, Donna Karan, Yves Saint Laurent, Shiseido, Lancome, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Jimmy Choo, and Smashbox, among many others. Them, as well as celebrity brands like Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Kat Von D.
Some shoppers have said that due to the heavy foot traffic that this store often generates, customer service can be difficult to get.
22nd St & 5th Ave NY | Restoration Hardware
Restoration Hardware is the world’s leading luxury home furnishings purveyor, offering furniture, lighting, textiles, bathware, decor, and outdoor goods. This store may attract the occasional tourist, curious to see what’s inside. Otherwise, this retailer is ideal for those who recently moved into New York and are looking to furnish it, especially condo owners.
Restoration Hardware currently operates more than 100 retail and outlet store locations in the USA and Canada, as well as a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer business that includes stand-alone catalogs and e-commerce sites www.restorationhardware.com and www.rhbabyandchild.com Its family of catalogs has grown from the core Home catalog to include a dedicated Outdoor book showcasing premium outdoor furniture and textiles, a Gift catalog featuring unique items that bring a touch of wit and whimsy to the holidays and our newest brand extension, Baby & Child.
Technically, this location is listed as 935 Broadway, but this store’s location goes into 5th Avenue because the two boulevards criss-cross at East 23rd Street.
597 5th Avenue NY | Sephora
Sephora cosmetics store sells a variety of makeup, skincare, fragrance, bath/body, haircare, and giftware items. The major brands that Sephora carries range from Dior to Dolce & Gabbana, DKNY, Donna Karan, Yves Saint Laurent, Shiseido, Lancome, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Jimmy Choo, and Smashbox, among many others. Them, as well as celebrity brands like Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Kat Von D.
Due to the store’s variety, customers labeled this store the “candy store of cosmetics”. Since Sephora is competing with department stores that also sell cosmetics and perfumes like Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, it’s compelled to regularly hand out free samples and small gifts, in order to stay competitive. Some shoppers at Sephora have said that due to the heavy foot traffic that this store often generates, customer service can be difficult to get.
587 5th Avenue NY | Quiksilver
This retailer is aimed at 20-something year old men who are athletically active, especially in surfing and other water sports. Quiksilver has a vast collection of men’s California “surfer dude”-style boardshorts, jackets, sweatshirts, jeans and other activewear. That, as well as accessories like backpacks, watches, hats and shoes. There is also an assortment of various garments and accessories for young women, too.
Skaters can choose from a small range of wheels and, in-season, snowboarders will find all their necessary gear. Surfboard-shaped door handles and chandeliers help set the theme, as do museum-like displays of surfing memorabilia and Playstation kiosks offering virtual samples of the surf, snow, and skate lifestyles.
575 5th Avenue NY | Guess
This is American lifestyle brand Guess two-story flagship store, which launched this location in February 2011, and has become a favorite destination for “Fashion’s Night Out” attendees.
Unique and custom-design features are present throughout the store, including hand-applied Venetian plaster and silver leaf wall coverings, custom-made chandeliers and an elevator draped in faceted black chain mesh made by Hudson Furniture in New York City. The store proudly celebrates GUESS heritage through eye-catching commissioned artwork on the store’s upper level, including a denim rug made from over 500 vintage jean patches, and a handcrafted installation of over 7,000 authentic denim buttons mounted on a black background and painted with the original GUESS triangle logo. High gloss black and white fixtures juxtaposed against distressed steel and black wood finishes complement the store’s aesthetic.
The first floor of the store houses the brand’s fashion-forward women’s collection including exclusive pieces only available at US flagship locations. Backed by a 12 foot high LED screen playing behind the scenes videos from fashion shows and behind the scenes videos from campaign shoots, the first floor also features a denim anchor wall with illuminated translucent red glass and floating shelves displaying accessories. Located in the center of the floor is an elevated runway showcasing an expanded assortment of all GUESS accessories categories, including the European jewelry collection, which is sold exclusively at the Fifth Avenue flagship location and GUESS Accessories stores. A new dress section along with additional women’s apparel and the full men’s collection are located on the second floor.
565 5th Avenue NY | Build A Bear Workshop
This retailer lets its customers (mainly children and their parents) create their own teddy bears and other stuffed animals. This happens to be the largest “Build A Bear” location in the world (given that it operates over 400 stores worldwide).
Build A Bear has also created several tie-in stuffed animals for various promotional events, including a toy The Cat in the Hat, a toy Shrek, a toy Cody Maverick penguin from Surf’s Up, a toy Mumble from Happy Feet, a toy E.B. from Hop, both Alvin and Brittany from the Alvin and the Chipmunks (movie) series, a Jonas dog and a Wizards of Waverly Place bear.
562 5th Avenue NY | Midtown Cigar
This retailer is a major provider of fine hand-rolled cigars in Manhattan, selling labels such as El Rey Del Mundo, Partagas, Cohiba, Arturo Fuente, Montecristo, Ashtons and many more. Since Cuban cigars are still subject to the U.S. embargo against Cuba, American customers settle for what they feel are the next best thing: Dominican cigars, which have received increasingly positive reviews over the years.
The salesmen at Midtown Cigar are very helpful to both veteran smokers, and those learning about the differences between each label. Tourists will marvel at the wooden indian statues which seem to be all over the store.
Unlike some cigar shops in New York, which came and went during the American cigar boom of the late 1990s, this shop (previously known as “JR Cigar”) has been serving cigar aficionados for years, and seems to offer very good prices for its smokes.
555 5th Avenue NY | Barnes and Noble
This Barnes and Noble book store, which carries its standard line of books and magazines, is best-known for its celebrity book promotions – ranging from Kim Kardashian to Raquel Welch, and many others.
This Barnes and Noble is also popular for its Starbucks café – attracting both local office workers and tourists.
535 5th Avenue NY | Duane Reade
Named after its original drug store on Duane and Reade streets in Lower Manhattan back in 1960, this drug store chain mushroomed into a mega-drug retailer in recent years, taking over retail space throughout New York, having been bought out by rival drug chain Walgreen in 2010.
Even though it’s still a drug store (with a pharmacy in the back), much of Duane Reade’s sales come from food (including candies and other snack items), HBA (health and beauty aid products) and cosmetics. Because of this, Duane Reade’s main customer based is local office workers who prefer to shop there than at pricier convenience stores.
